Page:The Rejuvenation Of Miss Semaphore.pdf/10

 The Rejuvenation

OF

MISS SEMAPHORE.

CHAPTER I.

WHICH INTRODUCES MISS SEMAPHORE.

Seven o'clock had struck.

The gong at 37, Beaconsfield Gardens, South Kensington, thundered under the vigorous strokes of the bow-legged German waiter. By one, by two, by three, the boarders trooped down to dinner, the more sensitive to noise stopping their ears as they descended.

The very deafest could not ignore that gong. Müller always attacked it suddenly, as if running amuck or possessed by a demon. It reverberated far and near, and echoed faintly to Gloucester Road Station. Boarders, arriving late, were seen to run when their ears caught the familiar sound.